This invention relates generally to footwear and more specifically to footwear with storage capabilities.
Men, women, and children have always had a need to carry things with them wherever they go. This need was initially met simply by carrying them in their hands, slinging them over their shoulders, or carrying them in containers of some sort.
When clothes came along, pockets were invented and became the ultimate means for men and boys to carry things. Even so, the males of the species found it desirable to maintain a filing system of sorts for storing things in their pockets by resorting to containers such as billfolds and change purses. An added attraction of such containers was the protection provided the more fragile items that were carried about. The males also took advantage of the ubiquitous belt as a carrier of "must have" items such as sun glasses, pocket knives, and sometimes cash.
Pockets in clothes have never become popular with women and girls as a carrying resource. Instead the handbag became the essential accessory for carrying the multitude of different things that females need in living their daily lives. This has worked out well except for those times when it is inconvenient to carry and keep track of a handbag. There appears to be no completely satisfactory solution to this problem. The only options seem to be to cut down on the number of items that must be carried, thereby making the use of a small purse feasible.
Fashion-dictated changes in women's footwear has now provided a way of avoiding the use of any purse at all. It is now quite fashionable for many occasions to wear stylized boots with large heels, rather than the delicate "high heels" customarily the footwear of choice. These large heels provide a new resource for the storage of women's essentials.